What type of attack primarily exploits human psychology?

What type of attack primarily exploits human psychology?

• A. Phishing
• B. Social engineering
• C. DDoS
• D. SQL injection

Answer: (B)

The focus of the correct choice revolves around understanding that social engineering is a tactic that exploits human psychology to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential or personal information. It relies on the deceptive nature of interactions where attackers exploit trust, curiosity, fear, or urgency to achieve their goals. Social engineering can take many forms, including phishing, but it encompasses a broader range of techniques aimed at deceiving individuals into taking actions that compromise their security. While phishing is a specific methodology often employed within social engineering to trick users into providing sensitive information via fraudulent emails or messages, social engineering includes all tactics that manipulate human behavior, regardless of the communication channel used. This highlights the importance of awareness and training to recognize various social engineering tactics, as the root of these attacks is the psychological manipulation of individuals rather than technical vulnerabilities or system exploits like DDoS and SQL injection attacks, which focus on exploiting system weaknesses rather than human weaknesses.

The focus of the correct choice revolves around understanding that social engineering is a tactic that exploits human psychology to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential or personal information. It relies on the deceptive nature of interactions where attackers exploit trust, curiosity, fear, or urgency to achieve their goals. Social engineering can take many forms, including phishing, but it encompasses a broader range of techniques aimed at deceiving individuals into taking actions that compromise their security.

While phishing is a specific methodology often employed within social engineering to trick users into providing sensitive information via fraudulent emails or messages, social engineering includes all tactics that manipulate human behavior, regardless of the communication channel used. This highlights the importance of awareness and training to recognize various social engineering tactics, as the root of these attacks is the psychological manipulation of individuals rather than technical vulnerabilities or system exploits like DDoS and SQL injection attacks, which focus on exploiting system weaknesses rather than human weaknesses.